


Good Magnusquerade Timeline and Bad Magnusquerade Timeline for Gerry

by Turbulent_Muse



Series: Magnusquerade stories [16]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, But having a bad time, Do Not Archive (The Magnus Archives), Gen, Gerry is alive, Two Different Timelines, Vampire AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turbulent_Muse/pseuds/Turbulent_Muse
Summary: I wanted to give Gerry a break in this AU but then I had ideas, so we got two timelines!
Relationships: Gerard Keay & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay & Trevor Herbert & Julia Montauk
Series: Magnusquerade stories [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600123
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20
Collections: The_Magnusquerade





	1. International Business Trip

The house looked abandoned. Properly maintained, but not really lived in. Jon was worried that the man he was looking for wouldn’t be home. He was also worried about how isolated this place was. Julia and Trevor had suggested that Jon bring a weapon with which to threaten the house’s owner to keep him from putting a stake through Jon’s chest, but Jon just couldn’t bring himself to do it, even though the person he sought was a renowned vampire hunter. Renowned both because he was human, and unaffiliated with the Hunt, and because he had survived this long despite those two facts.

He walked up to the door and knocked. “Gerard? Gerard Keay?” He listened for sounds of movement or footsteps inside the house. He really needed Gerard to be home, he couldn’t delay his trip back home any longer, Martin, Tim, and Melanie needed him.

It was a good thing he was listening so intently or else he never would have heard the click of the trigger. He dodged frantically as a wooden crossbow bolt flew in his general direction and he started running. More bolts shot passed him until one caught him in the arm and pinned him to the side of a large shed.

“Please don’t kill me!” Jon pleaded. “I’m not here to hurt you or anyone! I just want information!”

“Even if I believed you, why would I help you?” A voice said from the shadows. Jon heard the sound of another bolt being loaded into the crossbow.

“Because I’m trying to stop the Unknowing!” Jon yelled. “Please! You know what that is, right?! You know someone has to stop it!”

A figure stepped out of the shadows and closer to where Jon was pinned. Jon saw a young man dressed in all black with long, dyed black hair approach while holding a crossbow at the ready but pointed towards the ground. He also had a flashlight which he shined at Jon.

“Drop your weapon.”

“What weapon?”

“Whatever those damn Hunt fanatics told you to bring to threaten me with.”

“I don’t have a weapon!”

“So they didn’t send you?”

“No, they did. I just didn’t listen to them.” Jon said. “Although now I think I probably should have.” He muttered.

“Empty your pockets.” Gerard ordered.

“I’m, uh, I’m going to need both hands to do that.” Jon said cautiously.

Gerard pointed his crossbow back up at Jon. “Go ahead, but don’t try anything.”

Jon reached over and pulled the bolt out of his arm, crying out in pain as he did so. Then he slowly reached into his pockets and took his phone, his wallet, his keys, and his lighter, dropping each to the ground as he did so.

Gerard shone the flashlight at the lighter with its web pattern. “You a spider freak, then?”

“What! Oh! Er, no. I’m with the Eye. Reluctantly. I work as the archivist at the Magnus Institute. My name is Jon.”

There was a heavy pause.

“When did she die?” Gerard asked somberly.

“A couple of years ago.”

“Was it peaceful?”

Jon hesitated before deciding on the truth. “No.”

“Good. Don’t think she would have wanted that. God, I can’t imagine her dying in bed.”

“How exactly did you know Gertrude?” Jon asked. “I mean, I know some of the details but—”

Gerard cut him off with a sigh. “Come on, follow me, let’s talk inside.” And he turned not towards the house, but to the entrance to the shed. Jon hesitated, then followed.

The shed was large, and packed almost full. There were weapons and books everywhere, but all meticulously organized. There was also a small bed and two chairs next to a desk.

Gerard sat down in one of the chairs, without putting down his crossbow. Jon sat nervously in the other chair. Gerard sighed and started talking.

“I don’t know what all you know, so I’ll start from the beginning. My mother was insane. She wanted to become the most powerful sorceress in the world, powerful enough to control the fourteen clans.”

“What?!”

“I know. Anyway, my dad got me away from her pretty quick. Quit the Magnus Institute and headed for America.”

“He quit?! How?! Was he not—”

“No, he was. He just decided to tough out the withdrawal. It was pretty rough, he was actually in the hospital for awhile, but he survived. He always said what kept him going was the thought of keeping me safe.”

“So he told you? About vampires?”

“Yeah, he figured the more I knew the more I could protect myself. Plus, I mean, my mother didn’t exactly keep her… _work_ a secret, so I knew bits and pieces already. Anyway he thought we were far enough away from her to have a relatively normal life, and we did manage that until I was… I can’t remember the exact year anymore. Funny how that happens with important, life-changing events. Time goes on and I can’t remember which birthday was the last one I spent with my dad.” Gerard paused, took a breath, continued. “I don’t know what exactly she was when she showed up, but she wasn’t human and she was hard to kill. She killed him without hesitation and I thought she was going to do the same to me, but no, she wanted a _legacy_. I spent the next _five years_ getting dragged all over England and forced to be complicit in her schemes. Then, Gertrude found us. When she finally managed to kill the bitch I sank to my knees and couldn’t stop thanking her. I decided to help her with her work for a while, do some good, kill some of the things that ruined my life. But eventually I started to get too close to the Institute and I knew I had to leave before I got trapped. I knew that was the last thing my dad would have wanted for me. Gertrude didn’t seem surprised or upset when I left, she just wished me luck. I think she really meant it too. So I found my way back home and continued fighting the good fight as best I could.”

“What exactly was Gertrude’s work?” Jon asked. “I mean, I know the gist of it but did she know about the Unknowing? Did she have a plan to stop it?”

“She did. But she didn’t tell me. All I know is that it had something to do with a storage unit on an industrial estate up near Hainault. She said she rented it under the name Jan Kelly, and hid a key for it somewhere in the Archives. Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“Well, worst-case scenario I suppose I… continue to have nothing.” Jon said, sounding defeated.

“I guess. Have any of the other rituals popped up since you’ve been the archivist?”

“There are more rituals…”

“Yeah, one for each clan. I’d have thought Elias would have told you about this if he turned you.”

“No, unfortunately he continues to tell me only what I need to know to do exactly what he wants me to… Could you tell me? About the rituals? And more about the clans in general if you can.” Jon sounded hopeful.

“I can. But it will cost you.”

“What? Why?”

“The stuff about the Unknowing, that was to help save the entire world, including me, but if you want me to help you _personally_ then you need to do something for me.”

“Fair enough.” Jon conceded. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to kill those two Hunt vampires.”

“What? I don’t think I could if I tried!”

“Too bad, that’s my price.” Gerard said with finality.

“But why? You both kill monsters, shouldn’t you _want_ to share information with them?” Jon reasoned.

“They’ve been trying to make me their thrall.”

“What?!”

“I’ve managed to fight them off so far, but one day I’m gonna mess up. I need them dead before that happens.”

Jon thought for a moment. “I don’t think I can kill them but what if I—I think I could maybe make them forget where you live, or perhaps even forget you entirely.”

Gerard looked at him with wide eyes. “That’s some pretty powerful Beholding magic.”

“Well, I have a very… insistently thorough teacher.”’

“Okay. Okay, if you can make them forget me then I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“Thank you, Gerard.”

“Gerry.”

“What?”

“Gerard is what _she_ called me. My friends call me Gerry.”


	2. Workplace Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now for the Bad Timeline

Going after a Leitner on his own was definitely a bad idea. But who was he going to call for backup, those two assholes who’d bound him to them as their thrall just so they could be sure he’d always have to help them fight their monster of the week? Nope. Don’t think so.

So Gerry had taken his lead ( _his_ not _theirs_ , not for _them_ ) and gone off on his own and that’s how he ended up in a dumpster with a sharp object embedded in his leg.

He managed to finally get himself up and over the top of the dumpster, but that victory was cut short by his bad landing, which drove what he could now see was a piece of scrap metal deeper into his leg. Okay, time to get to a hospital before he died of infection or tetanus. The wound wasn’t bleeding too much which was lucky, it probably missed everything major. Gerry dug in his pocket for his cellphone, and promptly cut his fingers on the shards of broken glass and plastic and other sharp remains of the device. Not good. He could call out for help, but in this neighborhood that was just as likely to get him killed faster.

He tried getting to his feet, but collapsed as soon as he put weight on his injured leg. It _hurt_. A lot. So much pain it left his head swimming and threatened to pull him into unconsciousness. But not before it tore a scream from his throat. It was a weak scream, not likely to carry far, probably no one heard.

Then he heard something that managed to bring up an emotion so strong it cut through the pain like a knife. Annoyance.

“Well, look what we got here, Julia.” Trevor’s rough voice announced his presence. His footsteps as well as Julia’s had been silent.

“It looks like our Gerry has gotten himself into trouble.” Julia replied.

“I told you not to call me that.” Gerry practically spat. But he was relieved to see the two hunt vampires. And not just the part of his brain that was forced to happily obey them. If they were here it meant he wasn’t going to die. They needed him.

“Fine then, _Gerard_.” Trevor said. “Let’s get you back home and fixed up, _Gerard_.” And he reached down and hauled Gerry up to his feet.

“No, wait!” Gerry yelled but it was too late and he had been stood back up on his hurt leg. He screamed again and started to fall, but Trevor caught him and effortlessly picked him up and carried him bridal style. Trevor and Julia started talking to each other but Gerry didn’t hear them. He was already slipping into unconsciousness.

When Gerry awoke, he found himself propped up against a wall and on top of what he was pretty sure were old couch cushions. He looked around and saw he was in an abandoned building with all the windows boarded up. The only light to see by was a pile of torches in front of him, creating a maze of light and shadow. Most alarming though, were the faces of Trevor and Julia on either side of him, far too close for comfort.

“Oh look, you’re awake.” Julia said.

“Where are we?” Gerry demanded of them both.

“Home!” Julia answered. “Well, for now.”

“You know us.” Trevor added. “Always on the move.”

“No no no, I need to be in a hospital!” Gerry argued.

“Nonsense.” Trevor grumbled. “We can fix you up right here.”

“Besides,” Julia reasoned. “Hospitals ask questions.”

“And I can lie.” Gerry retorted.

“Sorry boy, it’s for the best if you just let us take care of you.” Trevor said and gave him a pat on the shoulder. A sick part of Gerry’s brain was _excited_ at the prospect of being helped by these two. He tried to push the feeling away. Then Trevor handed him a stick. “Here, you might want to bite down on this.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?” Jerry asked, panicking, as Julia moved to grab the piece of metal in his leg. “Wait, stop, you can’t just—”

Julia pulled on the scrap metal and Gerry screamed until he lost consciousness again.

This time he awoke to more pain and as his eyes shot open he saw Trevor pouring alcohol over the wound on his leg.

“Easy there, Gerard.” Trevor said as Gerry screamed. “Don’t want this to get infected.”

Gerry looked at his leg and noticed the two hunters had made a tourniquet out of—oh dammit, he’d liked that shirt. This meant he wasn’t bleeding out, which was good. He looked over and saw Julia running the flame from a lighter over a needle, which was decidedly less good.

“Listen. If you won’t take me to a hospital then at least take me home!”

“Changed your mind about having us in your house then?” Julia asked as she put away the lighter.

_Of course, it would be an honor to have them there, it’s shameful not to not want them there._ “No.” Gerry almost growled, trying to clear his head.

“Then I’m afraid you’re stuck here.” Trevor responded. “You won’t be putting weight on that leg anytime soon, that’s a fact.”

“So, until it heals up some, you’ll need our help.” Julia walked over to where Gerry was sitting.

_How nice of them, so dependable and nurturing, such good masters._ Gerry hit his head against the wall behind him.

“There, there, Gerard.” Julia said. “You heal fast so you can leave us soon. A day or two at most.”

_Leave? No! Stay. Stay as long as they want._ “Good. The sooner I’m away from you two the better.”

“Agreed.” Trevor said. “You’re a pain in the ass little prick, and almost too stubborn to be worth dealing with.”

Gerry felt his heart break and tears started to well up in his eyes, he had been rejected thoroughly and although this was a common occurrence it still hurt just as much every time.

Trevor and Julia didn’t actually like Gerry or want him around. They didn’t like having a thrall either. No Hunt aligned vampire did, there was no fun in prey you didn’t have to chase. No, they just decided to ruin Gerry’s life because they wanted to make sure they could get information from him whenever they needed or wanted it. And he only ever saw them when they needed or wanted information, which would be a blessing except that sometimes that meant they left him a sick mess wasting away without their blood for weeks. Gerry wished his stupid brain would let him hate them, but instead here he was feeling as hurt and self-loathing as a kicked puppy at Trevor’s dissaproval. Luckily Julia picked that moment to shove the needle into his skin so he could blame his tears on the pain.

As she stitched him up he tried to think of other things besides his current situation. A fresh cup of coffee, loud music, going to baseball games with his dad. Anything but the mess his life had become. Anything but the fact that he was beholden to, and currently entirely dependent on, two vampires.

If only he could go somewhere they wouldn’t find him he was sure he could survive the withdrawal. His dad had done it, so could he. But everywhere he tried they just tracked him down, or he gave in and went back to them. What he needed was a friend who could help him lock himself away until it was over, but none of his friends knew about vampires and he didn’t trust his acquaintances in the supernatural world enough to go to any of them. So he was trapped.

Julia finished stitching the wound shut and Trevor brought over a blanket to replace Gerry’s shirt. Gerry’s brain wanted him to thank Trevor sincerely and enthusiastically, but he managed to get away with just a muttered “Thanks” with a bitter edge to his tone. Gerry tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. He noticed that Trevor and Julia seemed to be getting ready for bed too, pulling blankets into practical nests with a couple pillows thrown in for good measure. It must be close to sunrise. There was really no way to tell. The room was pitch black aside from the light of the torches, which Trevor was clicking off one by one.

Gerry missed his bedroom, with the curtains that always let in just a little bit of sunlight at the edges, just enough that he could feel safe from the creatures of the night. That was why he had become mostly nocturnal, he just didn’t feel safe enough to sleep without those small rays of reassurance. He tried to tell himself that the sun was just outside the walls but it didn’t help.

He sighed and carefully let out the part of his brain saying _safe, safe with them, trust them._ Just enough that it gave him reassurance enough to sleep.

Gerry dreamed of the past. When he was young he had twisted his ankle and had to spend a week keeping weight off of it. He had been little enough that his dad could still carry him around the house when he wanted to go from the living room to his bedroom. Gerry dreamed of those days and the feeling of comfort and safety that came with being taken care of when he was helpless.

When he awoke, the slow, dawning realization of his situation made him long to be unconscious again. He pulled the blanket up over his face and groaned.

The next couple days were torturously boring, he mostly just stayed in his spot propped up against the wall and tried to quiet the part of his brain that was thrilled to have Trevor and Julia taking care of him. The minute he could stand and walk on his own he started heading towards the exit.

“Aren’t you gonna say goodbye?” Julia asked.

Gerry gave her and Trevor the finger without turning around.

“Ungrateful bastard.” Trevor called out.

Part of Gerry felt the cut of the insult sharply but it was easy to ignore that and focus instead on the sheer fucking rage the comment incited.

“Ungrateful? _Ungrateful_?! You two ruined my fucking life just so you could use me as your bloody encyclopedia for monsters! If I could, I’d fucking kill you both! And you think that patching me up and having me sleep in your weird camp in an empty warehouse for a few days makes up for any of that?! That I should be _grateful_?! Go fuck yourselves, both of you.”

Gerry left before he could hear their replies. He limped home with a chorus of _bad, wrong, just do and be what they want_ in his head and it was so fucking annoying.

Once he got home he wanted nothing more than to crash in his bed and maybe get some decent sleep but he made himself shower and put on clean clothes first. He was going to have to work hard to get the smell out of what of his outfit was salvageable. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep he heard a knock at his door.

“Go ‘way.” He groaned. After a few minutes he heard another knock and grumpily limped to his front door. He opened it to see a disheveled-looking man he’d never met before.

“Gerard Keay?” The man asked. Gerry nodded. “Gerard, my name is Jon and I, um, I need your help.” Gerry started to close the door on him. “And I think I can help you as well!” Jon called out desperately.

Gerry opened the door back up. “I’m listening.”


End file.
